Ralph Earl Scofield, war vet, Metis senator, dead at 87

In this file photo, Second World War veteran Ralph Earl Scofield was among the hundreds that turned out for Sunday's annual Remembrance Day celebration at the cenotaph at City Hall Square in Windsor, Ont. on Nov. 6, 2005. Scofield served with the RCAF 415 bomber command. (The Windsor Star/Scott Webster)

Ralph Earl Scofield, a flight gunner during the Second World War, labour activist and a proud member of Windsor’s Metis community, has died.

He was 87.

Scofield, a native of Margo, Sask., who moved to Windsor to work at General Motors in 1950, died of cardiac failure on Friday with his wife Mary Rose by his side.

Scofield’s stepson Paul Amaro said Scofield had no serious illness and he had spoken with him in recent weeks but his stepfather essentially “ran out of gas.”

Scofield was a senator with the Metis Nation of Ontario and was a founding member of the NDP.

MP Brian Masse (NDP-Windsor West) rose in the House of Commons Wednesday to pay homage to Scofield.

“Earl was a great inspiration to all and a personal hero of mine,” said Masse.
“His legacy will inspire future generations. Thank you Earl, for your contributions to your country and your community. You are already missed, but will never be forgotten.”

Scofield was intensely proud of his Metis heritage, wearing his hair in a long braid down his back.

“That’s very traditional,” said Amaro.
“Very, very proud of his nation. I think from a stepson, he definitely was a man. He did a lot of good things throughout his life.”

Scofield was a retired autoworker but in his retirement he dedicated his life to the well-being of the Metis community in Windsor, in Ontario and across Canada.

“He participated in a lot of speaking engagements and did a lot of life coaching with the young generation and stuff like that,” said Amaro.

Scofield was always prominent at local Remembrance Day ceremonies and had been scheduled to lay a wreath on behalf of the Metis nation at the national Remembrance Day service in Ottawa on Sunday.

Scofield — who joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 16 — has his recollections of the war featured on the website thememoryproject.com by the Historica-Dominion Institute.

“At one time they gave us a pistol, a revolver, but you were better off without it because then you had more chance to be taken as a prisoner,” Scofield said in a recording on the website.
“But if you landed sometimes in a territory where there was a lot of hostile farm women working with a pitchfork in their hands, they hated being bombed. They hated the air force and Hermann Goering (commander of the German air force) said that the Germans would never be bombed, but we gave them back some of the bombs that they dropped on England. This was a kind of retribution.”

Scofield was the recipient of both the Queen Elizabeth II golden and diamond jubilee medals.

Scofield was predeceased by a son, Eric, and is survived by a son, two daughters, three stepdaughters and four stepsons.

A funeral service will take place Thursday at 11 a.m. in the chapel of Janisse Bros.-Marcotte Funeral Home at 1139 Ouellette Ave.

In this file photo, hundreds turned out to pay their respects during Sunday’s annual Remembrance Day celebration at the cenotaph at City Hall Square in Windsor, Ont. on Nov. 6, 2005. Among the many veterans on hand were Ed Moreland who served in the Royal Navy, centre, and Ralph Earl Scofield, right, who served with the RCAF 415 bomber command. (The Windsor Star/Scott Webster)

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